This Week on CounterPunch Radio DAHR JAMAIL

On 2 November 1963 Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated in a CIA-backed military coup. U.S. support for the coup was based on the idea that the elimination of Diem would open the way to the formation of a government which would be more popular, stable and open to U.S. advice. From the perspective of the United States the Diem government was incapable of mastering the Buddhist crisis that dominated the towns nor of creating an army capable of resisting the insurgency led by the communist- dominated National Liberation Front which was sweeping through the countryside. But U.S. expectations were dashed as the coup led not to stability but to deeper political anarchy. Following the coup against Diem there were a succession of five more military takeovers which created utter chaos and forced the direct intervention of U.S. ground troops in 1965. More

Richard Meier, #45 on Dezeen’s global hot list of architects has been accused of sexual harassment. He is known for his stark white buildings begun when, as a protégée of Phillip Johnson, he was a member of the New York Five, also known as the ‘Whites’, long, long ago in the 1970’s. He is the designer of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, The Getty Center in Los Angeles and recently, a series of glassy New York condo towers. More

Israel has a conflict with the Arab world, which refuses to recognize and have normal relations with it as long as there is no peace between Israel and the Palestinian people. Israel is now practically at war with Syria and Hezbollah.

Iran wants to be the dominant Muslim power in the region. Therefore it is practically at war with Saudi Arabia (which wants the same) and its satellites. That looks like a community of interests between Israel and Iran. More

Exclusively in the New Print Issue of CounterPunch

In this Issue:Jeffrey St. Clair on Edward Said, Ahed Tamimi and the new face of Palestinian resistance. The Perils of Bi-Partisanship: Jason Hirthler on how consensus empowers the elites; Stealing Honduras: Laura Carlsen on US-backed coups in Central America. Who Started the Korean War? by Marlon Ettinger; Iran on Four Wheels by Alison Aziz; The McMansions Arrive in LA by Julia Stein; I Used to be a Political Person by Ruth Fowler. PLUS: Mike Whitney on North Korea, Chris Floyd on the crumbling US empire, and Jeff Ballinger on the Nature of Human Nature.